Boutique means small and sophisticated, and Rheinwood Pastoral Company is the very definition of boutique.
Their select drafts for the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale never number in double digits, yet they continually produce horses like Gr.2 Karrakatta Plate winner Luke’s Luck, Gr.1 winner Albert the Fat, stakes winners Unchain My Heart and So Anyway. Bluebloods spoke to Kirsty Willis about their 2020 Magic Millions draft of six yearlings.
What appeals to you most about the MM sales and race series?
There is nothing better than the electric atmosphere of the Magic Millions, the excitement of the Gold Coast in January and the buzz of the Magic Millions carnival as it continues to grow and build every year.
As the first sale of the year, it holds great appeal to take a draft to the Magic Millions’ sales, the bloodstock team always work hard to assemble a large and diverse buying bench for the vendors and if you have a horse which is nice type, you are well rewarded in the sales ring.
How would you sum up your farm and the service you offer?
Rheinwood Pastoral Co is a boutique thoroughbred stud located in the Southern Highlands of NSW. We have now been operating in Mittagong for over 26 years and pride ourselves on providing top class individualised care for broodmares and their progeny. Our farm is located only one and a half hours drive from Sydney which means owners can visit their horses on a regular basis to watch them grow and develop from new-born foals all the way through to yearlings at the sales.
Our farm is fully irrigated with ample access to water, ensuring pasture access for the horses to graze year-round. We limit our resident broodmare numbers on the farm so we can tailor specialised care for each horses’ needs. We feel this is a valuable advantage.
How many mares did you breed with in 2019, who is the best known?
At Rheinwood we walked on 45 broodmares this season across most major farms in the Hunter and Victoria. This is a huge logistical undertaking for farms not located in the Hunter and it’s a whole team effort to ensure that the mares get to the stallions when they are ready to be covered. Even Ray jumps behind the wheel for a last-minute dash
to the Hunter when needed to get a mare in time for her date! We are so lucky to have the support of our exceptional team of vets from Southern Highlands Equine Centre and this makes the process so much easier.
We have several young well-bred mares on the farm, all at the start of their breeding careers and we are very excited to see their first foals hitting the tracks, it has been our goal to consistently upgrade our mares each year and we hope to continue to do this every year.
How would you summarise your draft this year?
Six quality individuals! We have six outstanding horses to showcase in January 2020. We have selected these horses for this draft as we feel they perfectly fit the criteria to appeal to Magic Millions’ buyers. The draft, under the excellent watchful eye of our new manager Dee Foster, who joined the team this season, is already looking amazing.
We have two cracking colts by Deep Field, whilst different, they are both outstanding. Both are first foals, with one being out of Rites of Spring who is a daughter of dual
Gr1 winner Sacred Choice, while the other is out of Orchid Beach who is a half-sister to stakes winner Insistence from the family of Outback Barbie.
We also have four fillies that we are very proud to present. The I Am Invincible filly from Electric Charge will turn heads, and she is the third foal of a winning half-sister to group winner Miss Darcey. We have a striking grey filly by Star Witness, who is the first foal out of an American Listed Winner in Lakotadreamcatcher, as well as a Shalaa filly who is the first foal of Talented Miss, a winning half-sister to the stakes placed dam of recent Gr.3 Ming Stakes winner Quick Thinker, from the family of successful sire Blackfriars. Rounding out the draft is a Dissident filly from Majestic Faith, who is a winning half-sister to stakes winner Black Minx, the dam of group winner So Si Bon.
We are sure there will be something that appeals to all buyers!
In one sentence how would you sum up social media?
A valuable marketing tool for small businesses like ours, allowing us to have our content reach a wide range of audience.
What would you choose as your animal sidekick if you were in a movie?
I have a very adorable Golden Retriever called Archie, so if I were in a movie, he would be my No1 sidekick but I am sure he would definitely end up being the star!
